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The Muppet Huppert.

The Anna Raccoon Archives

by Anna Raccoon on September 22, 2010

If you had met the team of people supporting Julian Huppert’s campaign in Cambridge for a seat in parliament, as I did, you would possibly have the same impression of him that I do. Only a muppet would have entrusted his campaign to those pillocks; however, notwithstanding this handicap, he did manage to get himself elected, for which I congratulate him. No need to be churlish.

Now he has tabled an early day motion claiming that research shows that ‘regardless of their situation’ the public wish to see more money going to disabled people in the form of winter fuel payments.

The Papworth Trust polled 1,000 people across Britain, and found that ‘disabled people’ were three times more likely to stay at home during the daytime in the winter than non-disabled people’.

Blimey! So if you have a perfectly legitimate reason not to be at work during the day, then you are three times more likely to be at home during working hours. That is truly incredible!

Not only that, but if you are one of those people who are not already receiving winter fuel allowance because they are over 60 themselves, or have someone living in their house who is over 60, and you are not so severely disabled that you are receiving the fairly generous DLA allowance, there are times – so you told researchers – that you can’t always afford to put on the heating.

Blimey again! So if you are not that disabled, and not that old, and still not at work during the day, then you are just like the rest of us and have to think twice before putting on the heating. Incredible!

The problem with Julian’s solution of giving the winter fuel allowance to all those ‘severely disabled’ is that noble as it may sound, those in receipt of disability living allowance are not means tested. They may well have received hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not millions, in compensation for an accident, it makes no difference to the DLA payments. They may well live abroad, the DLA payment is not dependant on your staying in the British Isles. It carries on paying out even when past pension age – for as long as you wish to claim it.

Rather than identify those few claimants that might fall into the “under 65, not that disabled, haven’t had compensation, still living in the UK, and need additional help with their heating” – Julian wants to hand out an annual bonus to every person claiming DLA on the back of an emotive poll by an interested party.

This is the sort of nonsense we got used to with the Labour MPs, victim poker and redistribution politics.

The geographic spread of respondents is very suspicous. Especially considering that the survery was done on the internet and by post. 74% are in Essex, Norfolk and just north of London.

Page 11 asks about staying in during winter. Obviously, disabled are more restricted in their movements – because they are disabled. So they will be more likey to stay in during winter (when it’s wet and/or icey). But they could also be more likely than able bodied people to stay in doors during summer months – again because they are restricted in their movements. The results don’t point this out – probably because it’s true and the Trust don’t want their fake results to be blown out of the water.

Page 13 asks what people had to forgoe last winter. The Papworth Trust say this indicates that disabled are twice as likely as non-disabled to go without food/heating/leisure/clothes during winter. It doesn’t say how much they had to go without during the summer because they were poor in the first place. And in fact the majority of disabled had no such worries during the last winter and coped pretty fine.

Page 14 shows the percentages of disabled concerned about winter time. The Trust says that 69% of those who are concerned are disabled. What they don’t show is the number of disabled who are not concered. And overall the majority of respondents are not worried about the forthcoming winter (54%).

Obviously comments like “I do not like the early dark nights which make winter drag. I feel it lasts so long and I spend much more time in the house” and “I do not walk well and I’m always afraid of falling when out in snowy or icy conditions” are very scientific.